Social Circus and Inclusive Playground - Circo Cuenca - Ecuador

Social circus is a social intervention approach based on the circus arts. In this approach, the primary goal is not to learn the circus arts, but rather "to assist with participants’ personal and social development by nurturing their self-esteem and trust in others, as well as by helping them to acquire social skills, become active citizens, express their creativity and realise their potential." The social circus project organises in a locality, works with children and young people, and then moves on to a different location, bringing with it young performers from various countries to help in training and organising for a community circus that also involves local youth, including young musicians.

This collaborative effort in Cuenca brought together young people to learn the values of solidarity, self-esteem, pride of ownership, and achieving goals as tools for life. Under the auspices of the project, children received psycho-social support and were trained in values of self-esteem, safety, and teamwork.

One communication technique used is the Roda, or the Circle, referring to the scheduled hour in which students and leaders of the social circus gather for a discussion on the status, successes, and problems of the circus, reflecting the right for everyone to speak, disagree, express opinions, and make contributions. The Circle's dialogue is essential to the Social Circus' paedagogical method, as it contributes to the composition of a liberal, critical, and democratic education.

The playground that was built as a result of interest in circus arts is designed as a model of equipment created for children of various abilities to play together in safety. (See video in Spanish below to observe the inauguration of the park.) Communication with families takes place through a Facebook page. It includes promotion of ongoing training for children 3 circus disciplines - juggling, aerial silk (acrobats on suspended fabric), and trapeze.

Children

In 2000, Cirque du Soleil, in association with circus schools and other interested partners, set up an international training programme aimed at developing the teaching skills of social circus instructors and community workers.

More than 19,000 children and young people worldwide of low resources that live on the streets or live with the risk of becoming homeless have been involved in this project of Cirque du Soleil.